


Becyra's Tales of Challenge

by AimlessCat



Series: Tales told in Tandem [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Skyrim
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-02 10:44:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8664604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AimlessCat/pseuds/AimlessCat
Summary: A young mage finds herself suddenly free from servitude, and left with the task of deciding who she will be, in a world that tried to tell her who she couldn't.





	1. The End and The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written by a friend, named Eton.

I stood on the edge of the world.

Everything around me dazzled like stars in the night sky. Fields, mountains, cities, towns, forests and even the ocean were laid out right before me. The glowing blue form of my wolf, Betony, stood beside me and howled and I even joined in. I felt nothing, but euphoria…

Then a soft flicker of light sashayed across my vision…

“Wake up, thrall!” Holliona yelled out in her usual harsh tone as she held a candle dangerously close to my face. Startled, I leapt up and out of my cot. Unfortunately, my body was not prepared for the sudden shift in movement and I fell down to the ground with a great big THUD. 

“Ow…”

I looked around the cave to clear my dazed vision. Holliona went back to the enchanting table looking annoyed. “Zalimore wanted you to collect herbs.”

“What kind of herbs, lady Holliona?” 

“Lazy slave. You should have been up earlier to hear from him yourself. I don’t know...something blue or something…”

“…Oh…okay…” My body still ached from being experimented on particularly harshly by my Master. It had something to do with testing the threshold of one’s magicka, I think. I shook my head and tried to forget almost fainting from exhaustion last night. 

Outside was bright and the sun felt nice against my pale skin. My hand glowed a dark blue and I summoned Betony. “Good morning, friend! Wouldst thou aid me in fetching blue herbs for the Master?”  
As usual I was mostly on my own. 

Betony was a fighter and not much useful for gathering herbs. She watched me carefully as I plucked up blue mountain flowers. “Could be worse ya know! I mean, I could be the slave of a warlock who uses me to satisfy his carnal desires.” Betony blinked. “I mean… He even lets me read all the time! And study all things arcane!” Betony blinked. “…” I sighed. “I just wish Holliona wasn’t so jealous all the time… If only she’d listen when I tell her that Master only spends so much time training me instead of her, because he’s using me to make himself stronger and to advance his own power. I’m merely his experiment. A means to an end.” Betony howled then yipped and disappeared. 

I headed back home.

…

“Who’s there? …Thrall?” I heard Holliona say as I walked up to her. “Yes. I’m back. Here’s the flowers!” I set them down on the table. 

“Oh. I was worried you were Zalimore.” She said with a big grin.  
I smiled back uneasily. Never before had she smiled when she set her gaze on me. “Heh… No. Why is tha-” I saw her hands glow with ice. Suddenly she zapped a bolt of ice straight at me!

“WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” I backed up, falling over a chair and still managing to get struck by the sharp, stingingly cold attack. I winced in pain.

“No longer will I allow you to take away from my training. I WILL become a necromancer! YOU will not interfere!” 

“WHA-INTER- YOU’VE GONE MAD! PLEASE STOP!” She hit me with more bolts of ice while I struggled to stand, my whole body shaking to the very core. “PLEASE!” I begged again, but only earned more ice tearing my tattered robes and causing me to bleed. “S-Stop!” 

Holliona showed no signs of stopping. I tried dodging her attacks, but was mostly unsuccessful. The many years of being experimented on had taken their toll on my ability to be graceful on my feet.  
I backed myself up against the nearest wall, feeling horribly cold and in pain. Then, without my direct consent, my hands glowed a dark blue in one hand while fire enflamed the other. I felt a wave of shock. I didn’t want to fight! Still…maybe I could weaken her into stopping. I decided to conjure Betony. The wolf appeared at once and flanked the necromancer apprentice, growling and leaping at her with sharp fanged jaws. Holliona clearly did not appreciate my familiar and cried out in pain as she was bitten again and again. 

Holliona wasn’t about to stop, however, and after another bolt of freezing ice hit me, I felt dizzy and sluggish. “I WILL END YOU HERE AND NOW.” She yelled out with clear pain in her voice. 

I staggered a couple of steps forward…but lost my footing and sent an unwanted barrage of flames from my hand as I fell to the hard ground. ‘This will be the end of me…’ I thought as pain engulfed me

To my surprise… It was not.

The flames my hand had let loose had hit all around the cave, hitting and burning Holliona! She screamed and Betony took the opportunity and dug her fangs into the young woman’s throat… All while my flames did the rest of the work in burning her heavily. 

Betony disappeared with a yip of farewell. Holliona was deathly still.

I was horrified as I looked over and determined, that indeed, she was dead. 

I had never killed another human being before… I-I didn’t even mean too! I never wanted to! With heavy breaths, I walked over to the corpse of my Master’s apprentice and fear struck my heart like lightning. I had not only committed murder, a grievous sin in and of itself, but I had done so against my Master! Not only that, but he would likely come back at any time now… “N-No…” Tears fell down my cheeks, although I didn’t much notice from all the pain I felt both mentally and emotionally.

All I knew for sure, was that I had to leave. 

I took Holliona’s robes, as they had actually faired better than my own. Perhaps because they had some magical properties attached to them? I grabbed some essential foods, drinks and gulped down a health potion before escaping…

Every part of me felt like it was the end of the world.

If only had known…that it was only just the beginning.


	2. From Riften to Whiterun

Not once had it occurred to me that I had no idea where I was actually going, or, even more importantly…that I had no money. At least, I never considered it until it mattered.

When I finally reached the Riften stables, I found a caravan and asked him if he would take me as far away from Riften as possible. His reply?

“You look a bit roughed up. Them bandits have at you, girl? They been causing everyone a world of trouble around these parts lately. Anyways, farthest I can take you is Whiterun. Eh? No septims? Sorry. I ain’t a charity. Come back when you have 25 of ‘em to spare.” The bearded caravan man stated flatly. 

“Okay…” I backed up and looked around.

“Now…how does one earn money in a quick and efficient manner?” I mumbled to myself. No doubt Riften was the most likely place Zalimore would find me…but it was also the most likely place to find a quick job. Do I risk it?

“What do I do?” I was so bad at making decisions for myself. Probably because I never needed to. My hands shook and my stomach grumbled in hunger. “Ugh…No. Better stay clear of the city until I have something to sell first.” 

And so, with that decided, I went on my very first hunt. Little did I know that it wouldn’t be animals I’d end up hunting…

….

Just outside the parameters of Riften, I wandered about and stopped when I reached a side of Riften’s massive lake. I looked over the waters and breathed in. I still couldn’t believe that whether I wanted to be or not…I was finally free!

And for the first time in my life after becoming a thrall, I felt inexplicable excitement for the future. Whatever I faced before me, I knew that I had a choice in the matter. A smile crept on my face and worked its way into a grin. 

“I’m free.” I finally stated happily to myself.

An unfamiliar voice broke in. “…Free?” It was only then that I noticed three people surrounding me at a distance. “A slave perhaps?” The second voice questioned. “A bounty per-hopes?” The third asked. “Maybe.” The first said. “Let’s catch her and find out.”

‘Oh sweet mother Mara…’ I thought to myself in horror. ‘What do I do?’ 

“Come quietly, little runaway. I don’t want to have to mess up that pretty face of yours, but I will if I have to.” 

My whole body shook. I raised my hands. “LOOK! I MEAN YOU NO HARM!” Then… My hands lit up in flames and the dark blue form of Betony appeared at my side, growling at the three. I blinked in surprise. “Opps…”

“SHE’S A MAGE TOO? GET HER!” One of them cried out and they all charged at me at once! And yet again, I failed at dodging most of the attacks against me. Luckily, Holliona’s old robes weren’t torn in spite of several well-aimed dagger strikes. No doubt they had some sort of magical element to them! Also luckily, Betony took several attacks herself and bit into the arm of one of our attackers.   
I sent fire out of my hand and aimed for the other two that were attempting to attack me together. My flames seemed to dance right past them to my horror and they slashed at me, causing bloody gashes dangerously close to my throat. “Auuhhhgg!” I cried out in pain and sent more fire towards them. This time however, my fire caught them and I didn’t stop until they fell to their knees and slumped into a silent heap of somewhat charred flesh. 

I panted in exhaustion, but felt both surprised and triumphant. 

Then I heard a yip. 

Betony had disappeared and the last man was still standing! Which means that he defeated her…and I didn’t have the strength to conjure her back any time soon…. In fact, the last of my magicka was quickly used in a poorly aimed attempt of setting him on fire. Which ultimately failed as he was quick on his feet.

The man grabbed me by my robes, raised his sharp dagger and I watched in absolute horror and braced myself. I expected the dagger to plunge into my heart, but instead, the man suddenly stopped, grunted loudly and his eyes rolled back before he slumped to the ground, dead. Behind him stood the form of a strong looking nord with a bloody steel sword gripped confidently in his hand. 

“Filthy thieves. When will they ever learn? Heh. Thanks to you I finally found them.” He looked me over carefully for the first time and I must have looked worse for war, because he said, “By Talos’ name. Are you alright? I mean, clearly you’re wounded. I saw your magic from a distance and came to see what the fuss was all about. Now I’m glad I-” I didn’t hear anything else he said. I simply winced as my shock dulled and my pain engulfed me all at once in fast, hard hitting waves.

My vision faded to black and I fell.

…

I woke up in a warm bed and looked around slowly. “Wha-?” I got up and walked out of an unfamiliar room into an unfamiliar house and tripped up a couple of times before finally finding the man who’d saved me in his kitchen, drinking from a big bottle of mead. 

“Ah. Welcome back there, Breton. Didn’t mean to shock you so much.” He chuckled and offered me to sit down. Instinctively, I sat down on the ground by his feet. “Thank you, kind sir…” He looked at me both surprised and embarrassed. “Stand up girl.” Now I was surprised. I stood up awkwardly, knocking over a bowl on his table and an empty bottle of booze in the process.

“Hmm. So… That’s why those bandits were after you, eh? Runaway slave, is that right?”

“…” My chest tightened and felt heavy like stone. No words escaped my lips.

“It’s fine girl. I am not turning you in. You bested two of those thieves who were causing a lot of unrest in Riften. Clearly you’re a talented mage. Name’s Balimund. I am Riften’s finest blacksmith.” 

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank you! Becyra. My name’s Becyra. You saved my life… I am in your debt kind-” Balimund interrupted me, “No. No need to say that. Listen, you’ve helped me out already with those filthy bandits. Here, the bounty I got from turning in their corpses. 30 Septims. Oh and I got a little steel dagger for you as well. I put it in your bag along with the remaining potions I had left over from healing you up. Don’t worry, those cuts near your neck ought to heal in a couple days. Sooner if you use those two potions I’m giving you.”

I looked at him and bowed my head in respect. “Thank you, Balimund.” I said finally as I took the money, feeling nothing, if not blessed. “Thank you. Thank you…” After some breakfast of bread and cheese and a taste or two of his stale booze, he allowed me to leave, but not before mentioning that since I was a mage, that if I came across ten fire salts on my journeys, that he’d love to buy them off of me. Apparently he’d been needing them. I gladly agreed to help him and with a simple “thank you” and “goodbye” I headed quickly and quietly outside of the city and back to the stables.

Fortunately, the caravan was still there and I paid the driver who welcomed me along for the ride. I felt excitement run through me for the second time that day. I couldn’t help, but wonder, what awaited me in Whiterun. I’ve read that Whiterun was filled with history and had promising shopping and residential districts, as well as plenty of work to do. There was even a special mage that lived with the Jarl who might be worth visiting as well. 

The thing is…a book will rarely tell you the whole story.


	3. News of the Dragonborn

The ride from Riften to Whiterun was relatively uneventful. I made sure to keep my wounds cleaned and dabbed some health potion on them before drinking the rest and munching on apples, bread and cheese every now and again. I slept part of the time, but I was honestly way too excited to sleep for too long. Even the night sky looked different to me now that I was on my own.

By the time the caravan arrived to my destination, I was fully healthy once again. I took notice of the landscape and how it had changed from forested mountains with lakes and rivers into sparse, cold tundra. I shivered, but smiled in glee. Ahead of the caravan, on the only bluff for as far as the eye could see, tall grey brick walls loomed into the sky, protecting the city within them.

“Wow…” I said under my breath. I thought I was quiet, but I heard the voice of the caravan driver mutter, “Don’t get out much, do ya?” “Heh…You could say that.” I replied back with a smile.

I was dropped off at the Whiterun stables and admired the horses for sale. I’d always loved their strength and admired their graceful prancing. Upon entering the city, I luckily only had one awkward conversation with the city guards about being a newcomer before they let me in with a warning that I happily accepted with a bowed head. I made note that the good manners that I was taught might make some people feel uncomfortable, because just like Balimund, the guards seemed embarrassed at my strict courtesy.

Inside the city was rather beautiful in its own strange way. I admired the stone buildings which I had only ever read about before in stories. And people were bustling about. I watched people pass me by for a few moments to take Whiterun in.

Day by day, I explored every inch of the city and its nearby surroundings. The Bannered Mare was so cozy and welcoming. Well…mostly welcoming. When I first arrived, I almost knocked over a whole pot of boiling stew…and my hands kind of got all fiery when I walked near people sometimes…so I kinda have a clumsy reputation…

After a week or two, I had picked up well over 200 septims from odds and ends jobs between Whiterun and Riverwood that mostly involved collecting stuff for people and fighting more bandits along the way. I found that I really liked pretty little Riverwood and its nearby stones that gifted mages a bit more power. Over the course of the week, I had gathered plenty of supplies in the form of two good sized water bags, furs from wolves that I eventually paid to get turned into a wolf fur cloak for warmth, assorted weaponry that I sold for profit whenever I could and lots and lots of magicka and stamina potions. Oh, and sweets. I found that I very, very much loved sweets and ate them on a daily basis now.

Today was different though. I was back in Whiterun and was finally going to Dragonsreach to meet court wizard Farengar, like I’d wanted to do on day one! Problem was, last time I tried, I wasn’t allowed in. Now however, I figured out a well-conceived plan that no doubt would have them begging to listen to me! I’d heard lots of stories around Whiterun ever since I first arrived about a dragon that had been killed a little over a week before I had arrived. Drunken old Nords at the Bannered Mare, were particularly loud about mentioning someone called the Dragonborn. I listened to everything they said about a person who recently became known that had the living soul of a dragon inside of him. It may have sounded crazy, but even the guards kept talking about the dragon killer and his companion. So I walked up to guards of Dragonreach and began my masterful plan.

“Greetings. I have a message from the dragonborn for Farengar. It’s quite urgent.”

The guards shared a look of uncertainty. I continued to speak, starting to get nervous, “Please. It’s quite urgent that I speak to Farengar.” The honesty in my voice must have resonated with them that time, because they let me in with a warning to be quick about it.

Inside Dragonsreach was amazing, although, I felt terribly insufficient. ‘By the nine…I should have bought new robes…’ I thought to myself as I anxiously got directed by a guard who took me to Farengar…where I only continued to look insufficient by failing to catch my footing on a rug and falling flat on my face.

“Oww…”

The guard helped me up, and a man in a black cloak looked up from his enchanting table and walked in my direction. I thanked the guard and looked at the man in the black cloak who greeted me with curiosity.

“H-Hello. Farengar…My name is Becyra… I have some news…for you…” I glanced at the guard still nearby and inwardly sighed. “…from the dragonborn.” Farengar simply looked confused. “Erm…It’s private.” I said as evenly as I could. Farengar nodded and waved the guard away. Then he led me over to a more secluded area of his.

“Please, go on… Tell me all about what this dragonborn of yours wants me to hear.”

Damn it all. He knew. I didn’t know how, but he knew.

“…I’m sorry… I just needed to talk to you. I didn’t know how else to see you.” Tears filled my eyes. “…I figured maybe you could help me…because you see. I don’t know what to do. I’m a mage, but I can’t control my magic…” I showed him my shaking hands and he looked at me with an unimpressed raised eyebrow. I bowed my head to him in shame. When I looked back up, I was surprised to see that he looked amused.

“Fear not. All of this damnable conflict lately seems to have claimed everyone’s passions. It’s nice to see that not everyone has lost it. I sensed that you were a mage the moment you entered Dragonsreach. You could use a lesson or two in subtly I’d say.” I looked up at him in shock, but he continued. “There's a tranquility in magic, don't you think? It is simply energy, to be harnessed by those with the will and knowledge to do so.”

“Yes…” Was all I could say as I felt I found that I could finally catch my breath.

“You’re different though, aren’t you? Aside from your obvious lack of control, it’s clear to me that you’re quite powerful for your age. I wonder why? Breton sure, but it’s more than that, isn’t it?”

I nodded, “Yes…” I repeated.

“Becyra was it?…” He paused before continuing after I nodded, “You know, if you've got the aptitude, you should join the Mage's College in Winterhold. I think you’ll find what you’re looking for there."

“A college for mages?! I never knew such a place existed…I’ve heard many books, but nothing about a college before.” Farengar smiled and showed me where Winterhold was on a map. It was north.

Far, far north...

After several more minutes of talking about the college and revealing to him that my magical specialty was conjuration, Farengar allowed me to look over his books upon my request once I saw his library. He even offered to sell me something called a spell tome for a Flame Atronach, which I didn’t even hesitate to accept. I paid him and he gave me the scroll, which I unraveled. He warned me that if it perished in battle, to get well out of the way from it, because it would explode. Then he watched as I read over the scroll and muttered several unrecognizable words.

My hands glowed the color of blue flames before the flames turned into the glowing dark blue like the kind that Betony appeared from, except I could tell that whatever was to come from it would be much more powerful. I felt a little dizzy from the weight of it. After a few tries, I flicked it off and lowered my hands.

“Hmm…” Farengar said simply. “Well you better get going before that guard comes back to check on you for taking so long to deliver a simple message.” I nodded in agreement before speaking, “Yeah. Okay, I understand… I am in your debt, kind sir!”

Farengar raised an eyebrow again at me, “In that case, remember that as a mage, the best weapon you have is your mind. If you can control your mind, your body will more easily follow suit. Farewell, Becyra.”

“I will not forget! Farewell, sir Farengar!”

And with that, I prepared for my journey to the College of Winterhold, where my true and destined path was sure to unfold.

Looking back on it now, I had never before been so right nor so wrong.


	4. Winter[hold], I'm coming!

I took a whole three days to prepare for my journey and gather enough septims to support myself for the journey. 

 

There was a lot for me to gather in order to make it to Winterhold without issue. I even purchased a compass to go along with the map that I was given to help me out. I was never really good with reading maps alone after all. The owner of the Bannered Mare, Hulda, looked nearly as happy as I felt when I mentioned that I was leaving Whiterun. I was a little offended, but was too excited to really let it affect me. Instead I walked without hesitation into the brisk morning air, only knocking into a few things on my way out and a few accompanying yells from Hulda! I felt that I had made progress in becoming more controlled and it felt oh so sweet.

 

Little did I know that I had spoke too soon… 

 

Once outside of Whiterun, I figured that ought to introduce myself to the Flame Atronach that I wished to conjure. I closed my eyes and focused on my energy as well as those around me. I opened my hazel eyes and smiled at the dark blue magic that gently moved across my hands in little waves. “Alright...Let’s do this!” I clenched my right fist full of magic and released it beside me. 

 

My head felt light and my body felt heavy. I fell to my knees at the effort. Luckily it was not in vain. A floating, feminine body covered in flames looked down at me.  
“Hello… My name’s Becyra. Can you speak human?” If it did, it didn’t reply. “May I call you by a name?” The Flame Atronach twirled about. “What about-” I didn’t get to finish, because she immediately flew off! 

 

“Wait!” I got up with a little effort and followed.

 

I heard shouts and my eyes widened in horror. Before me, my Flame Atronach was sending bursts of powerful flames on someone’s campsite. There were four men shouting and screaming. I tried to send out ice to counteract the flames to save the men, but the last of my magicka came out as electricity instead and shocked the life from an unsuspecting man nearby me.  
“No!” I shrieked out in vain.

 

I was too horrified to speak after that. My Flame Atronach made quick work of the camp and twirled back to my side when it finished its job.  
I found I could breathe again when I realized that there were more bodies than the men we had killed lying around… I shakily explored the campsite and realized that the men we killed were bandits. A pleased sounding shriek erupted from behind me and I realized that my Flame Atronach disappeared.

 

I sighed heavily. True, I had not killed without valid reason, but what if it hadn’t been? “Sweet mother Mara… I need to get to that college as soon as possible…” I muttered and took what valuable things that I could from the corpses surrounding me. A couple of books and pouches of gold were added to my inventory as well as a pick axe, four lockpicks, finally, from the man I’d zapped to death, a big ol’ mammoth tusk. I then chugged down a potion of minor magicka before continuing on, feeling defeated in spite of my victories. 

 

It had only been my first day of traveling, but shortly after my first encounter, I ran into a few packs of wolves and even two unreasonable necromancers, all of which I had to fight through. When I felt that I had traveled a fair distance and the sun was disappearing rapidly, I made camp.I felt as though I was on the edges of Whiterun hold after consulting my map and I laid down in my sleeping bag and slept with visions of magic dancing around in my head.

 

The next morning, I braced myself for what was sure to be an exhausting day by chowing down on three honey nut treats and some water. “Mmm…” I breathed in the cold, tundra air and failed at pretending that it didn’t bother me by shivering. 

 

“Hopefully today I’ll pass over Whiterun hold and get to…” I rechecked my map. “‘The Pale’...Looks like I’ll know that I’m going the right way if I run into the ‘Whitewatch Tower’.” I said to myself. 

 

And like that, off I went. Not stopping until dusk and having a fairly peaceful walk to the Whitewatch Tower. Even there, I only encountered bandits that were quickly taken care of by the Whiterun guards. I let them do their jobs and was well into the the Pale late that night. 

 

The pattern of relative peacefulness continued for another couple of days. 

 

Unfortunately, peace never lasts for long. 

 

And my peace ended at the Nightgate Inn.


	5. The Forsaken Strength of a Thrall

The Nightgate inn offered the promise of tranquility and the warmth of a roaring fire. 

 

Too bad I’d contracted rockjoint and every one of my joints was inflamed and in pain. “Ughuehh…” I whimpered. 

 

“Welcome to the Nightgate inn! I just started the fi- Oh my. Are you alright?” A male voice asked, “By the way, the name’s Hadring.” 

 

A trail of snot ran down my nose. It had been a long, cold walk. I sniffled and blinked in exhaustion. “Greetings sir Hadring…” I felt even more clumsier than usual. My shaky movements were now even less controlled and I swayed from side to side in a pained, slowed manner. “Oh no… I’m fine… I think I’ll be okay…” I didn’t even notice that I’d ran into some decorative pottery and nearly broke it. Only a firm warning from Hadring to be careful alerted me of the fact. 

 

An Orc sat writing at one end of the inn and a Nord was drinking at a table topped with numerous empty liquor bottles. They seemed to keep to themselves.

 

I focused on the innkeeper. “So umm… Food…Drinks... Medicine… Got any? I believe I fought one too many wolves…” The innkeeper pondered over my words before speaking, “Well, food we’ve got a-plenty. Drinks too. However, medicine we’re fresh out of. So the wolves got to ya, eh? Well… I think maybe you should stay away from everyone here. Just until you’ve healed up. If it’s infectious that is. Which if it’s rockjoint...it is. I’m sure the College of Winterhold has what you need though. It’s not too far from here either. Well...not that far.” I groaned. 

 

The drunken Nord rose his head high and spoke, “Maybeh seeh Curamiler at theat Fursocken Curve?”

 

Hadring chuckled flatly and spoke softly to me, “Don’t mind Fultheim. He’s drinking away a lifetime of bad memories.” I contemplated the drunken Nord’s state of well-being as the innkeeper continued, “He might be onto something though. Supposedly, some well-known Alchemist named Curalmil was laid to rest there. There might be some alchemy stuff? Maybe some offerings from fans near his resting place? I mean it’s hard to say, but it’s your closest shot of getting healed any time soon. Here, I’ll show you where it is if you got yourself a map. It’s just east of here.” 

 

I bowed my head to both of the Nords and even to the silent Orc, before heading out, leaving a trail of things I accidently dropped down from Hadring’s tables in my stead and earning a yell from the innkeeper on my way out. 

 

It was only getting colder outside. The Nightgate inn was situated at the base of the icy, snowy mountains after all. I needed to get to college as soon as possible, but every step ached. My hands were also flickering on and off with fire and ice magic that matched the hot and cold flashes I had due to all the swelling… I couldn’t continue on for much further. I doubted I would make it all the way to Winterhold in my current state.

 

I sighed. It was going to be a long, long night. 

 

“At least it was pretty close.” I commented after a fairly short walk along the east road in the direction of Winterhold. At least I figured I was there. Grey stone columns led the way to a cave entrance and a big bowl of fire lit up the entrance. “Looks sort of shrine-y to me!” 

 

From the very moment I entered the Forsaken Cave, I heard wolves howling in the distance. Not exactly confident in my current state, I let my hands glow a dark blue and conjured Betony who howled itself. My hands kind of flickered on and off with different types of magic, so, when the ice wolves attacked, I was left pretty defenseless and failed to attack them back despite trying too. Not only were they too swift for me, but my magic was weaker than usual as well. Betony was having none of the ice wolves however, and protected me with snarling and attacking the other wolves with brute, ghostly force. “Yeah! Get’em Betony!”

 

I didn’t notice until it was too late that two more wolves had snuck behind me and each one lunged at me! I managed to somehow dodge one of them by leaping out of the way, but I cried out in pain when the other bit into my arm. “AHH!” 

 

Then suddenly, as if my body were defending itself, my fire wrapped around my arm and the flames lapped at the wolf’s pelt, causing the air to smell of burnt fur. The ice wolf released my arm in pain and surprise. Betony, who had finished off the other wolves, turned back and used its jaws to clamp down and break the ice wolf’s neck. My ghostly friend then disappeared a few seconds later, leaving me to look over the blood trailing down my arm. “Ugh…” I gulped down a health potion and a few sips of wine in spite of the bitter taste to numb the pain.

 

Further on into the ice cave, it grew more narrow, fairly dark and relatively unstable. Oddly enough though, the soft flickering of the candlelight and well-worn pathway, meant that the Forsaken Cave had seen visitors on a fairly regular basis. I took lots of little breaks as I stumbled through the Forsaken Cave.There were several rooms spreading out in all directions. A few of which had coffins, urns and shelves with several useful items. I took what I could use, namely, a minor health potion and a potion of minor stamina. Then I heard some loud, grumbling and groaning. I turned around and saw a monster…

 

The skeleton man had a sword and shield. I conjured my Flame Atronach in spite of my fear of using it, and ducked down to dodge being cut in half. I succeeded, but fell down and winced in pain. I watched as my Flame Atronach sent fiery blasts at the skeleton man until he was incinerated. Quickly, more of the undead charged into the room we were at and my Atronach took them out one by one. “Amazing! I think I’ll call you, Soul! You sure got spirit.” My Flame Atronach floated above me, saying nothing, and waited until I got up and took the lead. 

 

Soul and I fought through more of the undead skeleton men, whom I remembered were called draugr. We moved through the cave,which turned into a crypt, grabbing loot as we went and suffering through a few traps along the way that nearly killed me. My Flame Atronach disappeared after a good several minutes though and I was left alone. Well… I was alone until I entered a huge, open room anyways. There looked to be a chest along the side and a grey wall with ancient writing written along it. I certainly wasn’t alone…

 

A serpentine creature that looked dragon-like both gracefully and savagely attacked me! I screamed as its ice attacks gave me frostbite through my very core that felt like dull blades being stabbed into my body with every hit. “Ahhh! Ice Wraith! Soul, help me!” I called out and send my Flame Atronach by my side once again. Immediately, it went to work, attacking the ice wraith with brutal force of its own using blasts of flame that the ice monster did not like. Then, a strong-looking long dead daugr used magic at me! Gathering what I could of my pride as a mage, drank a minor magicka potion and sent forth flames from my hands towards the magic-possessing daugr!

 

At least it should have been flames.  
It wasn’t flames.  
It was ice…   
How not very nice… 

 

The daugr circled me and attacked me over and over again with ice attacks that made my whole body shake. 

 

My vision grew blurry, my body was swollen and ached and I bled heavily. “Ugh…N-No...Come on...use...oakflesh...OAKFLESH.” I felt a blue coating suddenly surround my body. It was my oakflesh! I sighed in relief as the icy attacks did less damage. “Yes…” I chugged a health potion back and sent forth flames from my hands that hit both enemies at a side angle! Along with Soul, I was able to defeat the wraiths, although not without considerable trouble. I panted heavily. “Thank you, my friend.” I said happily. Soul disappeared without a word. 

 

There was a big grey wall with ancient words plastered on it that I yearned to understand. I let my fingers trace over the cold, surprisingly smooth stone. A golden chest nearby tempted me as well, but my poor lockpicking skills had not much improved and I was ultimately unsuccessful. 

 

Behind the word wall, I found and entered it, drinking another health potion as I feared running into any more monsters in my current state. My heart soared as I looked over the room. There was an alchemy lab inside! And satchels full of herbs, other ingredients and potions! I took out my botany guide book and grabbed several ingredients useful in creating resist poison and resist disease potions for if the problem should arise again. I found what I had been looking for. I drank a resist disease potion that had been in one of the satchels and immediately felt relief. My shaky body and hands no longer flickered on and off with magical power. The swelling went down considerably. I conjured Betony for company and protection and headed back to the inn, feeling my full strength returning to me at last. “Say Betony, do you think that maybe that daugr was Curalmil?” Betony blinked.

 

Back at the inn, I was welcomed back and ate, drank and slept like never before. Not only had I been cured of rockjoint, but I had gained valuable experience and knowledge as well. Even more than that, tomorrow I would most likely reach Winterhold and the college. 

 

It felt good to be alive.


	6. A Dark History, A New Beginning

“Hold still.” A rough, aged voice ordered of me. I obeyed.  
However, within less than a minute, my curiosity got the better of me and I couldn’t help myself. “What’s gunna happen to me, Mr. Zazumore?”  
“My name is Zalimore, although you will call me your master. Thralls such as yourself are to be seen and not heard. Don’t speak unless spoken to, understand?” I pondered this information over for a moment before speaking out again, “Yes...but Mr. Master, How do I know if someone is speaking to me or not?”  
Zalimore looked impatient, but answered anyway. “If you hear my voice and I’m looking at you, I’d say that that’s a good start.”   
I looked up at the experienced necromancer, making sure he was looking straight at me before continuing. “Mr. Master… What’s going to happen to me?”   
I earned a chuckle from my owner. “You are a clever little slave. I’ll be sure that it doesn’t go to waste. Now. I’m going to practice an enhancement spell on you. Stay put.” He then sent a dark wave of magic at me that felt sharp and painful when it hit. I grunted in pain and felt my vision slowly fade to black...

 

My eyes blinked open as I awoke. “Odd. I rarely dream of my past...” 

 

My body held a dull ache from adventuring in the Forsaken Cave the night before. I shook my head and looked around my room at the Nightgate inn. I noticed that it was still vaguely dark outside as I peered out of a window and giggled softly to myself. I had a habit of waking up far earlier than I needed to when I was excited. Figuring I might as well leave while I still had a boundless amount of energy, I gathered my things, enjoyed some warm, freshly baked sweetrolls and chilled milk and left without hesitation after breakfast.

 

The pale dawn light was exceedingly bright against the snow, but it failed to actually provide any real amount of warmth. I tucked my wolf fur cloak even more tightly around my body and shivered. The further north I traveled, the colder and harsher the weather became. It wasn’t unexpected, but felt surprising to experience firsthand. “B-By the N-Nine..it’s f-f-freezing up here…” 

 

Only wolves interrupted my chilly travels and were quickly dealt with by Soul and I.   
The slow rise in elevation made my cloudy breath come in shorter, quicker wisps. My feet hurt after several hours of straight walking, but I had absolutely no desire to rest before reaching Winterhold, both because of the fact that it was so cold and that my heart was beating fast and my head was spinning in anticipation. I simply could not wait!

 

Then I saw it.

 

Candlelight revealed the hay-filled tops of houses in the distance. I heard the sound of footsteps crunching through the freshly falling snow, signalling the presence of other people. Soon enough, a sign that read ‘Winterhold’ came into view. I had actually made it to my new home. At last, I had made it!

 

Winterhold, here I come!

 

In my excitement, I ran into a city guard on my way into town and my hands became enveloped in flames from the surprise. The female guard looked entirely unimpressed at me and pushed me away from her. “Keep your fancy magic to yourself, mage.” My hazel eyes widened at the harshness of her tone. I bowed my head respectfully to her, regardless. “Yes, lady guard ma'am!” She looked slightly surprised by my words and I hoped I had not offended her any further… Fortunately, she grunted and carried on with her patrol, a couple of men guards following behind her. 

 

I sure knew how to make a first impression…  
Trying not to feel too discouraged though, I smiled to myself and explored around Winterhold.

 

The first building I saw was the grand longhouse of the town’s Jarl. I entered the building and shivered to take in the immediate warmth of the building. Inside, a dark elf was sitting down, drinking and a Nord warrior walked up to me. “Greetings. What business do you have with Jarl Korir, visitor?” 

 

“I’m new to town and… well you see… I just wanted to introduce myself. My name’s Becyra! I plan on joining the College of Winterhold.”

 

The warrior looked unimpressed or uninterested in me. The Jarl, who was sitting on his throne-like seat and who had probably overheard me, got up and walked over to us. “Oh? When you get there, tell them that I don’t care how many Colleges they build, or how much the sea swallows up. I’ll outlast them all.” He then turned and walked back to his throne. I was dumbfounded. The warrior, who mentioned that his name was Kai, told me that Jarl Korir didn’t approve of the college and blamed it for the Great Collapse. He went on to explain that the Great Collapse was a series of vicious storms that devastated Winterhold, yet left the College relatively unharmed in the 4th Era.Then he left me to hammer out all the details of the geological event for myself. I left the Jarl’s longhouse, feeling that I knew far less than I’d previously thought possible. 

 

The Frozen Hearth provided a far more rewarding experience. 

 

There was a roaring fire and hot food served with booze. What more could someone want? Zalimore had never allowed me to drink more than a few sips of alcohol to numb my pain whenever he experimented on me a little too much. It may have tasted bad, but it certainly made me feel more relaxed and warmed me up inside. In the bitter cold of Winterhold, I ordered chicken dumplings with buttered baked potatoes and drank some spiced wine. Sweet mother, Mara it was good! Dagur, the innkeeper was particularly kind and filled me in on Winterhold’s history and why many residents held disdain towards the College and for wizards in general. One thing was for sure… I was going to have to prove to the town that wizurds like mehshelf were nut all baud!

 

After only one cup of the wine, I was sufficiently buzzed and left into the dark of the night, to Birna’s Oddments at the suggestion of Dagur. As I entered the shop, a Nord man and woman were arguing. 

 

"Don't just walk away from me! Where do you think you're going?" The woman yelled.   
The man replied curtly, "To the Inn for a drink, of course! Where else could I even go in this gods forsaken town?" ‘The Inn DOES have good drinks, to be honest. That spiced wine didn’t even taste all that bitter!’ I thought to myself in mild empathy. The woman was having none of it though and responded hotly, "And what, you think that'll solve all your problems?" ‘Yeah…’ I agreed internally with the woman, realizing for the first time that I was scared of actually going to the college. I had been avoiding it from the moment I’d entered the town… The man merely huffed back at the lady and muttered a loud, "Probably not, but it's worth a try!", before he left. 

 

The Nord woman finally noticed me standing by the door. “Sorry about that… Do come in. My name’s Birna. Welcome to Birna’s Oddments. Please, take a look at my wares.”   
I nodded happily. “No it’s fine! Are you okay?”

 

Birna looked surprised, but answered my question honestly. "I do what's necessary so my brother Ranmir and I can get by. Have to, since I can't count on my brother for anything. Ranmir's a good for nothing drunk. We'd've lost the house by now if it were up to him. I may occasionally make a few bad deals. I’ve been burned a few times. But mostly, I come out on top." 

 

I admired the Nord woman’s passion and resiliency. “You sure are brave! If you ever need any help, I’m probably going to be around Winterhold for a while.” Birna smiled at me before replying, “Thank you.You are kind to offer help… Should I need it, I’ll be sure to find you! What’s your name, newcomer?” I then told her my name, sold what I had to sell and headed outside, happy to see that there were at least two people in town that were amiable. 

 

Now all that was left for me to do...was go to College…

 

I breathed in the brutally cold, northern air and sighed. At the northwestern end of Winterhold, a massive grey stone path led upwards to what looked like a castle, although it was hard to tell in the darkness of night. Regardless, I knew it had to be the College. It was too grand a structure not to be. As I looked up even further up however, I noticed beautiful, colorful lights dancing in the sky far above me. I watched the aurora borealis in amazement for several minutes. I had never before seen the Northern Lights… “Beautiful… Absolutely beautiful.”

 

I felt as though even the sky itself were welcoming me to the College of Winterhold.

 

Gathering all of my inner strength, I walked up the first part of the bridge leading skyward. 

 

“HAULT!” 

 

I froze at once.


	7. Welcome to Insanity

A High Elf in dark robes stared down at me with untrusting golden eyes. “What brings you here? What are your intentions, Breton?” The tone of her voice sounded not entirely hostile, but certainly not friendly either.

“I… My name is Becyra! I have come to join the College of Winterhold! I am a mage.” 

The High Elf looked entirely unconvinced, “A mage you say? Prove it. Come here and cast a simple Magelight spell on the seal beside me.” She said, without hesitation. Before I was about to tell her that I knew no such spell, she spoke again, “I can teach you Magelight for 30 gold if you do not know it.”

I groaned inwardly at the thought of spending more money, but figured that no price was too high as I walked up the first level of the bridge and moved beside the High Elf. I handed her 30 septims and was taught the spell, Magelight. After trying it out in front of me and sending a big ball of light hurtling off in some random direction, I looked back at the mage in embarrassment. Surprisingly though, she didn’t look disappointed. 

“So you are a mage. Now then, tell me Becyra, what is it that you hope to achieve here at the College?” 

I pondered the question. There was no obvious answer that I could give to her. After all, I wasn’t about to tell her that I had no control over my magic or that I was a runaway slave. I gathered my thoughts together and let them flow as well as they could, “Well… I want to become more powerful. I want to yield conjuration and the elements of fire, ice or electricity to the best of my ability. I also want to learn more about the world of magic. And...about everything else too really...” I searched the High Elf’s face for any signs of disapproval, but found none.

“I see. If power is what you seek, you can obtain it here. Now, go on, place Magelight on every seal we pass. If you succeed, I will introduce you the the College’s Master wizard, Mirabelle. My name’s Faralda by the way. I teach Destruction Magic.”

The task was simple enough. The hardest thing was aiming. Each time I sent a ball of Magelight onto a seal, it rose up and surprisingly stayed lit up. ‘Amazing…’ I thought to myself, staring for a few seconds in awe each time I cast the spell. 

Eventually, we made it across the long, outworn bridge after lighting up every seal I came across. Faralda may not of said anything else to me, but she didn’t seem disapproving at least and I therefore took her silence as good sign. The castle-esque college had massive stone doors that slowly opened on cue. I followed after Faralda, who walked ahead of me and entered what I hoped to be my new home.

Inside the College, I was stunned. The massive circular courtyard was lined with snowberry bushes and a massive pillar of light blue magic rose up seemingly endlessly into the sky above. My heart rate rose with it. 

 

Faralda, who had walked ahead of me, spoke to a Breton woman like myself, who had been reading a book. Then they both turned to me. I smiled nervously. “Hello, Master lady...” I bowed my head and immediately dropped to my knees at the sight of authority as I had been taught to do. I realized too late that I wasn’t supposed to do that sort of thing anymore. I stood up at once and smiled awkwardly yet again. “Um… Becyra at your service!”

Mirabelle, who had been taken aback by my submissive greeting, regained her composure. “...Ah yes. Faralda tells me you are a mage who wishes to become a student here? Welcome to the College of Winterhold. Please, take these clothes. They are a symbol of your rank and status as a mage of the College.” The Master wizard handed me a hood, College boots and some novice robes of Destruction. They looked far better than my current robes and I took them happily and thanked Mirabelle gratefully. The Master wizard nodded and started to walk away. Then she briefly turned back to look at me. “Come. Come. I will show you around the college.” 

The tour was amazing. Everything was breathtaking. I had my own room in the Hall of Attainment with an actual bed, there was a massive library that I wanted to stay in forever called the Arcanaeum. Finally, as we entered the Hall of Elements, which had the mystical Eye of Magnus at its center, Mirabelle spoke. “I’d like for you to attend Tolfdir’s lecture. He is our resident scholar of Alteration and Magical Defenses. I will be leaving you now, as I must tell the Arch-Mage- his name is Savos - about you, our new recruit.” I agreed with Mirabelle in obvious outward excitement.

 

Once I saw an elderly wizard with 3 much younger mages surrounding him, Mirabelle left me an I joined the lecture. Upon noticing me, Tolfdir I think it was, greeted me warmly. “Welcome, Welcome! We were just beginning. Please, stay and listen.” I think I might have replied with a feeble “okay” and “thank you”, but I was too busy soaking everything in to be sure. 

Tolfdir introduced me to my peers, who included a male Nord named Onmund, a female Dark Elf called Brelyna and a cuddly wuddly looking Khajiit known as J’zargo. “Hello…” I said meekly back and smiled. 

"So, as I was saying,” Tolfdir continued, “the first thing to understand is that magic is, by its very nature, volatile and dangerous. Unless you can control it, it can and will destroy you."

My heart skipped a beat.

Brelyna interrupted our lecturer, "Sir, I think we all understand that fairly well. We wouldn't be here if we couldn't control magic!"

HA. Ha….haha…ha. I think felt sick…  
Tolfdir continued his lecture, but I was distracted… I blinked back into awareness when Tolfdir asked me a question directly. “Wha-what?” I looked at him in confusion and he simply repeated his question, “I said, you’ve been quiet so far. What do you think we should do?”

 

Now I was sure I was sick. 

“Oh um… Well… Yes, grand sir. I think...we should...maybe...do...the thing.” 

Tolfdir chuckled, “"Not going to weigh in either way? I admire your restraint Becyra, but there are times when you must make decisions, even without all the facts. Rely on instinct."

I took Tolfdir’s words to heart and sighed. What if I had no instinct?

Onmund chirped in, "We're all pretty new at this, right? Let's just give it a chance. What's the worst that could happen?"

Mr. Tolfdir eventually caved in and agreed to a fieldtrip, but only after he taught us the Lesser Ward Spell… Not everyone seemed to learn the spell at the same rate. Also, I was doomed. Out of everyone else, Tolfdir asked me to demonstrate the defensive magic of the Lesser Ward. I winced, but nodded and smiled throughout my inner turmoil. 

Every fiber of my being said run. Instead, I stood still and focused. I breathed in and out and after a few moments, my body became enveloped in a magical protective barrier. ‘By the Nine, I’ve done it!’ I grinned. At least until I thought I was about to be murdered.  
Tolfdir sent a fire ball straight at me and I merely stared in horror, only to blink in surprise as it bounced off of me and dissipated. “Brilliant.” I said simply and backed up. My whole body was shaking like crazy. I moved right into my peers, who seemed impressed and amused at my fear. 

If only my clumsiness was caused merely by fear...

“Good job!” Tolfdir praised me, also looking amused. Finally, looked evenly among all of us apprentice mages with his two differently colored eyes. “Now, how about that fieldtrip, everyone?”

Sweet mother Mara, I was in trouble now...


	8. A Thrall at Saarthal

At least with my new robes, boots and hood I was protected from getting frostbite, as my new peers and I followed Tolfdir through the snow. 

‘Okay. Okay. Gotta stay positive. Maybe we aren’t going anywhere that requires me to use my magic. Yeah! Maybe we’re going to a warm inn somewhere and learning history over spiced wine!’ I thought desperately to myself. 

I was so, so wrong. 

“As some of you may know, Saarthal was one of the earliest Nord settlements in Skyrim. It was also the largest. Sacked by the elves in the infamous "Night of Tears," not much is known about what happened to Saarthal. This is an exciting opportunity for us. To be able to study such an early civilization, and the magics they used…” Toldfir stated in a matter-of-fact tone.  
My peers and I exchanged looks. Onmund didn’t look too pleased, Brelyna seemed sympathetic towards the Nord’s displeasure and J’Zargo blinked his blue eyes and seemed indifferent. That or I just couldn’t read his fluffy face very well. I was intrigued myself, but didn’t much care for the thought of running into anything in the historical place. I simply did not want to risk using my magic and being caught with my lack of ability to control it. 

Soon we saw the excavation site down some stairs. I waited until everyone made it down the stairs before continuing myself. I raised one foot after another very carefully; taking note of the icy wood under my feet. My shaking body was having none of this ‘coordination’ stuff however and I jerked to the side without meaning to. “WHA!” I lost my balance and tumbled down the stairs! 

I landed with my head partially buried in snow and I whined to myself. “Oww…” 

I was lucky though. I’d only fallen down the last small set of stairs. I winced and got up, shaking the snow off of me. Tolfdir and the others showed concern for me as I staggered over to them, but I managed to reassure them that I was okay and drank a health potion as proof that I was not badly injured. ‘I’m going to feel that in the morning…’ I groaned inwardly as I smiled through clenched teeth while Tolfdir, still not entirely convinced of my well-being, continued whatever it was that he was saying. 

“We're particularly interested in the prevalence of magical seals placed on the tombs here. It's rather unlike anything we've encountered,” the Alteration mage mentioned before looking back at me in uncertainty. “Becyra, my dear, are you quite sure you’re feeling up to exploring?”

I nodded. “I’m ready. Let’s go.” 

Inside the ancient burial grounds of Nords long ago, everything seemed dimly lit by torches and silent. Tolfdir walked ahead and I overheard Onmund just behind me speak to Brelyna and J’zargo. “"There's no chance anyone in authority approved this. Our ancestors should be allowed to rest in peace." Brelyna responded to him with sympathy, “"To think, my ancestors destroyed the homes of Onmund's ancestors. So much bloodshed." J’zargo seemed removed from the pair’s conversation and merely asked if he would find something powerful that would make him a stronger wizard. Khajiit spoke kinda weird. 

“Yeah… Maybe we shouldn’t be here…” I began, but was quickly interrupted by Tolfdir, who was looking straight in my direction.

“My. My. This is a most fascinating place, is it not, my students? Ah, yes. Hmm. Well, Becyra, why don't you see if you can assist Arniel Gane? He's one of our scholars, here working on cataloging our finds. I expect he'd appreciate some help in locating any additional magical artifacts here in the ruins. Any enchanted items will do; the usefulness of the enchantment is irrelevant. If you find anything, the class can look it over.”

I could do that.  
Help find things with a scholar who was likely a mage and could probably fight off any spiders they came across? Perfect. I inwardly sighed in relief. Meanwhile, Onmund was tasked with finding any sort of ‘residual energies’ either alive or dead, whatever that meant, Brelyna was asked to search for warding magics and J’zargo was given the job of seeing if we were the only ones who had entered Saarthal recently. Which in hindsight, seemed like an odd task, considering other College members had been excavating the area. 

My peers and I shared an interesting conversation about Nord history before we left on our respective quests. I felt more than a little dirty after Onmund shared with us that by entering this cave, we were, in a way, defiling the tombs of those who had died here. ‘I sure hope being here doesn’t bring us bad luck…’ I thought, heading northwards. 

I headed deep into the caves, not hesitating to light up GIGANTIC EVIL SPIDERS along the way since I was alone with no one around to witness my lack of aim and control.

 

Unfortunately, in my merciless rampage against the spiders, I sorta kinda... nearly blasted a man’s face off. 

“OH MY!” He yelped and leaped out of the way just in time.

“GODS, I AM SO SORRY!” I shrieked in horror. The man looked angrily at me and I noticed he wore College robes. “Oh! Are you Arniel? Tolfdir sent me to help you find things!”

Arniel looked a little...distraught. “You're going to help? That's fine. Just... Just don't make a mess of my work. I've only looked through a portion of this section. You, uh, you can look around in the chambers just north of here. Try and be careful, all right? We don't want to damage anything.”

I could tell he just wanted me away from him, but I couldn’t really blame him for that. I continued to walk northwards until I saw something up ahead… It was somehow suspended in the air above a brightly lit section of the arched northernmost end of the cave.

The moment I picked up the amulet, I heard a click and I gasped and watched helplessly as I was locked in a small space. Trapped.

“Becyra?” The familiar voice questioned and I was quick to answer back. “TOLFDIR! IN HERE. I GOT TRAPPED IN!” The old wizard came running over to me and looked entirely surprised. “Oh my dear…” I told him about the amulet I’d picked up and showed him and he suggested using the amulet by equipping it. I did as he said without hesitation and watched the wall blocking me in shake a little. 

"I wonder... what effect might your spells have?" Tolfdir beamed in curiosity. ‘Ugh…’ I thought to myself. I let flames engulf my hands and sent a shower of fire all along the stone wall. Oddly enough, my magic was enough to crumble it and caused it to collapse! ‘By the Nine! I did it! Maybe the amulet is what did it though… Still! I did it!’

Tolfdir broke me out of my thoughts by rushing forward. “Are you okay!?” he asked worriedly. I told him I was fine and he looked at the strange inscripted pendant I wore in fascination. “Well if you’re sure…” He paused and we both turned to see that the wall behind where the pendant was floating had collapsed as well! "Well, this is highly unusual. And very interesting. Why in the world would this be sealed off? What is this place?”

Neither of us could answer Tolfdir’s question and so out of pure curiosity, we continued on. I may have been scared about revealing my secret to the old mage, but I felt responsible for exploring the rest of Saarthal for grabbing the amulet. Besides that, after walking through the hidden area for a bit, we saw a burial room up ahead. Tolfdir excitedly moved ahead of me to examine our findings. 

Meanwhile… I felt like I was being watched… A chill ran down my spine and I shivered. Then I caught sight of something mystical...

A ghostly apparition appeared before me. I froze and stared in terror.

“Hold, mage, and listen well… Know that you have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped. Judgment has not been passed, as you had no way of knowing. Judgment will be passed on your actions to come, and how you deal with the dangers ahead of you.”

“I-I’m so sorry f-for intruding...g-great spirit.” I stuttered, figuring that I had been cursed for intruding the final resting place of the spirit before me.

“Be still. My name is Nerien. This warning is passed to you because the Psijic Order believes in you, Becyra. You, mage, and you alone, have the potential to prevent disaster. Take great care, and know that the Order is watching.”

I felt very confused. Very, very confused. Tolfdir, who had finished his inspection of the burial room, looked at me in confusion and said felt something rather strange and he wondered why I had been talking to myself.

“I...I don’t know… I mean… I was given a messag I think. From something called the...Psijic Order?” I told him all about my conversation with Nerien.

“The Psijic Order? Are you quite sure about that? That's very odd. And danger ahead? Why that doesn't make any sense at all. The Psijics have no connection to these ruins. And no one's seen any of their order in a long time.” He looked as confused as I felt. 

“Tolfdir sir… Why would the Psijic Order be contacting me at all?” I asked, hopeful that the wise old wizard knew something I didn’t.

He didn’t. 

“I have no idea”, he noted, “but it's fascinating. Assuming it's true, of course. The Isle of Artaeum disappeared over a hundred years ago, and no one has seen them since. And yet now, suddenly, they have chosen to contact you? Why, it's intriguing! If nothing else, I'd take it as a compliment. The Psijics have only ever dealt with those they feel worthy.” 

Tolfdir and I had to fight through draugr that suddenly erupted from the coffin he’d been inspecting. If he noticed my shaking movements and how I knocked down burial urns in sending fire all over our enemies, as well as a whole side of the cave wall, he didn’t mention it. I felt thankful for Tolfdir’s silence and felt my confidence rise.

From where the first draugr came from, we found an opening into an even deeper part of the dungeon. Together, we fought more draugr and when Tolfdir said we’d better split up, I felt genuinely displeased. Still… I wasn’t about to disobey his order. I fought draugr on my own after that, and continued to do so until I found a large room with a gigantic spinning orb, protected by a magical barrier.

Tolfdir eventually arrived to the massive room as well. 

"Well now... would you look at that. I never imagined we'd find something like this. Why is this buried so far within Saarthal?” He questioned, although I couldn’t even attempt to answer, because a really powerful presence made itself known…

"Be bound here, Jyrik, murderer, betrayer  
Condemned by your crimes against realm and lord.  
May your name and your deeds be forgotten forever  
And the charm which you bear be sealed by our ward." The creepy voice rehearsed.

It was a draugr of some sort, but one more powerful than any I had ever seen before...It even spoke...although I couldn’t tell if it was speaking to us...or to itself.

It attacked.

Bolts of lightning, fire, ice and slashes from a magical blade bombarded Tolfdir and I, who more or less managed to dodge the first barrage. When I sent a wave of flames at the draugr however, it seemed to have no effect. I tried fire, ice, electricity. Nothing worked. 

“Ahhh!” I cried out in pain as the draugr’s electricity seemed to zap my strength from me. I winced and fell to one knee. 

“It’s feeding off the orb!” Tolfdir yelled out at me and ran over to the orb. “I’m going to sever it! Keep it busy!”

I groaned. ‘Easier said than done…’ I thought and leaned against the rocky wall, attempting to dodge constant attacks from ‘Jyrik’. “Betony!” I called out my wolf familiar, who helped in distracting the draugr by snapping her jaws at it. Betony did her best, but lasted only for a few moments before disappearing with a yip. The draugr then turned back to me...

A wave of fire blasted me to the ground and a magical sword pinned me to the earth. Jyrik’s skeletal form loomed over me and I glared up at it as it primed to finish me off…

“BECYRA, NOW!” Tolfdir yelled as he sent electricity breaking the barrier and making Jyrik temporarily weakened. 

“RAHHHH!” I screamed as I moved my hands together and sent a large wave of fire out of my hands, which turned from fire, to ice, to electricity without meaning to. I hit the foul undead all over with uncontrolled blasts until it screamed and fell to its death.

I panted heavily. “I-I did it...T-tolfdir… Did you take out the orb? What-what is it, anyways?”

“I have no idea! This is amazing. Absolutely amazing. The Arch-Mage needs to be informed immediately. He needs to see this for himself. I don't dare leave this unattended. Can you return to the College and inform Savos Aren of this discovery? Please, hurry. Oh and Becyra… About your little...problem… I won’t mention it to the others. Let him know that we've unearthed something... Well, I'm not sure. Something unique, let's say. It's clearly magical in nature, but like nothing I've ever seen before. He should be most interested..”

I stared at him in shock, then simply bowed my head, took my loot from the draugr’s body and headed back to the College to tell the Arch-Mage of our findings.


	9. A Desperate, Desperate Masochist

Arch-Mage Savos Aren. He was a Dunmer.  
A Dark Elf whom I held an automatic sense of respect for. Our chat was short and he didn’t seem particularly intrigued by me and left shortly after I mentioned Tolfdir waiting for him in Saarthal with some sort of mystical, glowing orb. 

And then I realized.. I was still pretty beaten up. Acknowledging this, I returned to my room, fell down onto my bed, drank a health potion and slept the pain away.

The next day was...interesting. I couldn’t find Tolfdir to speak about what he’d said to me regarding my situation, but I did get to meet and greet several other mages in my search for him. There was Sergius the Enchanter, Drevis the Illusionist, Colette the Healer and Phinis Gestor, whom excited me by being both a Breton and Conjurer like me. Nirya, a general scholar, was a little cold, saying that the College was in need of new leadership. She also didn’t like Faralda very much from what I gathered. Arniel, wouldn’t even look my way…and then there was Urag gro-Shub, the Orsimer librarian. 

“Greetings. I’m new here at the College and I-” My hand flung itself against a stack of books which all fell to the ground in a heap. “Oh- I’m sorry!” I leaned over and knocked myself into a table, spilling food and a troll skull onto the ground as well. Urag go-Shub looked...far from happy. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET BACK. NOW.” He ordered and I backed up immediately in horror and guilt. 

“I’m sorry…” I stated again. 

After he picked them all up and brushed them off, he glared back at me.

“I better not see you treating any of these books poorly, are we clear, clumsy little Breton girl?”

“YES SIR!” I responded, bowing my head apologetically. 

“Good. Disrupt my Arcaneum again like that, and I will have you torn apart by angry Atronachs. Now, is there anything I can help you with?"

I didn’t dare look up, but breathed a soft sigh of relief. “Y-Yes… I’m new here. My name’s Becyra. Urm… Can I help you with anything?” 

“No. And if that’s all you have to say, then get out of my sight.”

“...” I bowed my head to him and left the Arcaneum. I felt horrible. It was my fault after all.  
After several minutes, I wiped my tears away from my face and walked out from under the stairway where I’d hid under to cry. ‘Guess I’ll just sleep for a bit now…’ My mind suggested and I walked forward only to run right into Brelyna. 

“I’m sorry…” I muttered and blinked up at the Dark Elf woman, who didn’t seem disgusted like I’d suspected she might. Instead, she looked at me questioningly. 

“That’s fine… Becyra, isn’t it? I’ve overheard that you are quite talented.”

I blinked in utter surprised and couldn’t hide the smile that formed instantly on my face. “Wha- Really?”

Brelyna nodded. “"We're all trying to become better mages right? Well I need somebody I can practice a few spells on. So, would you mind assisting me? I’m working on a spell you see and I could really use your help.” 

“Of course! I’d be glad too!” I exclaimed and the Dark Elf smiled back at me and happily lead me to her room and told me not to move. ‘THIS IS PERFECT! I CAN DO THIS!’ I mentally beamed in delight and raised my head in pride and curiosity. Finally. Finally something I was skilled, experienced and prepared for! I watched carefully as Brelyna hit me with a beam of...something.

Everything looked...green. I felt a little dizzy too, but at least it didn’t hurt. 

“Oh dear… That’s not right… I’m sorry! You look a little green. How do you feel?”

I shook the dizziness away. “I feel fine! Don’t worry!”

“It should wear off in a few hours.”

J’Zargo, who must have heard what happened, walked over and also asked if I could help him! I agreed happily and he handed over ten scrolls. “Thank you, friend. J’Zargo is most pleased with the assistance. These scrolls were created to aid this one in battle against the undead. When you run into undead, use the scrolls and tell J’Zargo how easily and spectacularly they work. Easy job, no?”

I touched J’zargo’s furry shoulder and proceeded to pet him. “...Can I touch your fur?”

“Why ask this one when you are already doing what it is that you asked?” He looked annoyed, but at the same time, he didn’t move away. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I even saw a flicker of satisfaction on his face. Even if he did look offended by it, I didn’t think that he hated it either. It would probably feel nice to be petted after all. “J’Zargo would prefer not to be touched.” 

“Hehe, Sorry! Yes, I’d be glad to help you out.”  
I was less enthused to go outside into the bitter cold. Apparently, there was a cave at least somewhat nearby where J’Zargo suggested testing out his experiment. 

Once inside said cave there were Draugr. Draugr everywhere. I forgot to use the scrolls the first few times I fought the skeleton men out of surprise, but by the third time, I pulled out and read through J’Zargo’s scroll. 

BA-BOOOM.

I winced and groaned as my body was singed where fire had lapped at it. 

“Maybe I did it wrong!” I stated out loud and retried again and again and again, while fighting Draugr. While my fire kept the undead away, the skeleton men seemed better off than I did for using J’Zargo’s scrolls. I had to drink a health potion or two, but managed to make it out of the cave in one piece. My magic had grown more than a bit since leaving Zalimore. 

“Well… At least I’m not green anymore…” I said with a sigh to Soul, whom I’d conjured just moments before to aid me in a fight against the last squadron of Draugr. “Plus, I even found two fire salts for Balimund.” I mentioned.

Soul twirled around without any care.

 

Back at the College of Winterhold, J’zargo seemed frustrated when I told him that his scrolls had exploded upon use. “This one appreciates your help, friend, and will continue to work on perfecting their scrolls. J’Zargo will gladly assist you any time you should need it.”

Brelyna on the other hand was ready to try another set of spells on me after I spoke with J’Zargo. “Now just hold still, Becyra…” She said and used spell after spell on me, turning me into a variety of animals…

When all was said and done, I grinned at the Dark Elf, who looked thoroughly disappointed in herself and apologized to me. “Hey it’s okay! Let’s just...never mention this again, okay? Haha.” Brelyna agreed and seemed to cheer up a little bit from my response. 

“Thank you. I truly appreciate your help, my friend.” She said to me. J’Zargo and Brelyna now thought of me as a friend… I was touched.

 

Many nights passed since then where I snuck into the library past midnight to read books in-between my lectures and explorations with the College scholars. Faralda and Phinis were particularly friendly towards me and I trained with both considerably often. 

Then one day after a training session, Onmund approached me. Which was odd, considering we didn’t talk to each other much. Actually, the Nord mostly kept to himself or spoke with Brelyna. J’Zargo and Brelyna were easy to talk to, but Onmund never seemed interested in speaking with me, so I was understandably surprised by his approach. 

“Hello, Onmund. What’s wrong?” 

“By the Nine, I’m a fool.” 

“The Nine?” I questioned.

“The Nine Divine... Surely, you’ve heard of them?” 

“...I’ve read on most of them. Sheor, Talos, Mara...Arkay...Stendarr…There are others?” 

Onmund explained to me about each Divine and I took note to learn more about the rest of the Divine later and in greater detail. “However, most Breton only believe in the Eight and disregard Talos.” He finished. 

“Heh, well I’m not most Breton!” I chimed in and Onmund smiled warmly at me and nodded his head in agreement. 

“Becyra, I heard from Brelyna that you helped her and J’Zargo…” I nodded and his smile slowly faded, “I was wondering if you might help me. You see, I lost an amulet that was given to me from my family and I want to get it back.”

Onmund explained about his family and how he missed them in spite of their disapproving of his attending College to become a skilled mage. I envied his love for his family. He continued on about how he’d traded it away to Enthir, but regrets it, because even though he and his family were no longer close, it still served as a reminder of them. 

“I’ll help you.” I decided suddenly, “But first, I need to know… Who’s Enthir?”

Onmund told me that he was a shady kind of scholar at the College who hung around and tried to sell or buy things off of people. “Oh… That guy.” I had been avoiding that guy. 

 

I found Enthir sitting on a bench near the stairs. “You’re Enthir, right?”

“That’s right. I’m the guy that can do things. What can I help you with, little lady?”

Why was I always considered small? I was over five feet! Barely...but still!

“I um… I was wondering… Do you think you could give Onmund his amulet back? It means a lot to him.” I said honestly.

“I would love to help you, Becyra isn’t it? However, Onmund sold me his amulet and all trades are final.”

I tried to convince him to sell it to me, by telling him how sentimental it was to Onmund, but he only grew agitated and denied me. 

“Please? Is there anything I could do to get you to give it back to Onmund? Is there anything I could trade you for it? I’m not Onmund after all.” 

The Bosmer looked over me, perhaps noting my frail, elf-ish body and my slightly pointed ears. “Hmm… Well actually…” He paused to lick his lips and I shivered in disgust and prayed to mother Mara that he didn’t want anything sexual from me, because then Onmund would never get his amulet back. “If you can get me a staff called the Grand Staff of Charming, I might just give you the amulet in return.” Enthir got in real close to me and showed me where it could possibly be found.

It was REALLY FAR AWAY.

I nodded determinedly regardless of the distance. “I’ll get it for you for sure!”

And then after packing up on food and supplies in Winterhold, I began my journey to the Bloodlet Throne. 

Was I simply a glutton for punishment? Perhaps. Maybe I was just a masochist. A desperate, desperate masochist. Oh sweet mother Mara, what had I gotten myself into this time?


	10. Friends and Enemies

The sun was fading across the sky, painting it in brilliant golds, deep reds and indigo blues. I watched the sunset slowly fade across the horizon as I continued on my quest over the mountains. My mind ran non-stop in thought. The Bloodlet Throne, as it was dubbed, wasn’t all that far from the destroyed city of Helgen and if I wasn’t attacked or disturbed too badly, I figured that I’d be able to make it to Whiterun by the end of the night, which was covering a good deal of distance. My feet ached and I felt like I was made of ice I was so cold, but the sense of purpose I felt in being given a job to do gave me strength. Onmund was counting on me and I wasn’t about to let down a fellow College member! 

Aside from wildlife, my journey to Whiterun was relatively unimpeded. A few packs of wolves attacked me as I had suspected might happen, but none were of any match for a few lightning bolts from me and from Soul’s signature fire blasts. I collected any and all wolf pelts for later use and continued on my way.

To be honest, I was exhausted by the time I finally made it to Whiterun. The Bannered Mare was open as usual and good’ol Hulda even gave me a warm welcome when she noticed it was me.

“It’s pretty late travele-Oh, Becyra? It’s you! Welcome back!” Hulda exclaimed with one eye twitching for some odd reason. I smiled warmly at her and thanked her for probably having to get out of bed to rent me a room. I paid her and followed her as she took me to the upstairs room I’d used on my last visit to Whiterun. 

I plopped down on the bed immediately after Hulda left and rolled around in the covers happily. Unfortunately, in the process of turning myself into a cocoon, my flailing limbs knocked a cup or two off the dresser beside my bed. I heard a deep sigh downstairs and couldn’t help, but stifle a giggle. “SORRY! I GOT IT HULDA, DON’T WORRY!” I yelled down, although the only response I received was a handful of angry guests telling me to shut up as well as other...much less kind things. I got up, picked up the cups and then carefully got back into bed and tried my best to tuck myself in without moving around too much. 

My recent screw-ups got me thinking... ‘Mr. Urag must think I disrespect him and every book in the library. I’ll have to prove myself to him somehow…but… I wonder if my body’s side effects will ever fade away…’ I rose my hands above my head which shook uncontrollably. I studied them for a moment with a soft sigh before I lowered them and fell asleep.

In the late morning, Hulda rushed me out of her inn after breakfast and I was back on the road again. I conjured up Betony for the company once I was outside of Whiterun. The town I was heading to was supposedly ravaged by a dragon a while back. It was late evening when I reached Helgen, or what was left of it anyway. 

Helgen had open gates and inside everything was burned or crushed. Only a couple of buildings stood even somewhat decently. Oddly enough however, I saw a fire nearby.

“Well, who do we have here?” A male voice rose from behind me, startling me and causing my hands to crackle with electricity as I spun around.  
“Those fancy robes. I’ve seen them some place before.” A broad man, standing on one side of the first one, stated matter-of-factly.  
“Yes… She must be from the College.” A woman, on the opposite side from them emerged from behind a massive pile of rubble.

“I-I yes...But I’m only passing through.” I stuttered in defense while my hands flickered and became surrounded in flame and even the coolness of ice, before zapping back to electricity in an uncontrolled fashion.

“What reason does a girl from the College of Winterhold have to be in Helgen?” The first retorted, his own hands glowing a familiar ghostly dark aura, albeit dark purple in coloration instead of my dark blue. His two companions followed closely after him, using the same type of magic. 

They were conjurers like me, albeit Nords instead of Bretons.

“Wait! Are you bandits? I swear, I’m only just passing through! I’m not looking for any trouble.”

“Well, you’ve found it.” The man said as he and his followers conjured Flame Atronachs. I conjured up Soul in response and sent out lightning bolts in all directions!

Surprisingly, the man and his two followers were hit by my magic and Soul decimated all three of its kind without an ounce of trouble. The men and the woman begged me for their lives and I stepped in front of them so they wouldn’t be burned to crisps by Soul. “That’s enough, Soul. Thank you.” Soul didn’t leave, but it didn’t attack either, which was probably as good as I was going to get.

The first man looked thankful, but still seemed fearful. “Please have mercy on us. We are fellows. Conjurers alike. We simply misjudged you.”  
The other two nodded in agreement and I sighed and relaxed my raised fists. 

“I’ll choose to believe you all...but try to attack me again and Soul will burn you all down until all that remains is three piles of ashes.”

My attempt at intimidating them seemed to work. They begrudgingly offered me safe passage to the Bloodlet Throne, although they refused to go any further than that. The leader of the three, named Elior, seemed particularly interested in me and asked me how I came to be so skilled for being as young as I looked.

“I’m nineteen.” I told him, which only appeared to confirm his suspicions of me.   
“Incredible…I’ve never seen so young and powerful a necromancer before.” 

I felt my cheeks grow warm at the compliment and quickly looked away, “I’m not that special! I also think you believe too highly of me, sir. I’m not even a necromancer. I only conjure daedric companions. I feel raising the dead is disrespectful. I practice other magics as well as conjuration, including Destruction magic and even Restoration and Alteration skills. I can show any of you to do the same.”

Elior, Shaya and Ryik seemed highly interested in learning from me and introduced themselves. They had no interest in the College of Winterhold, so there was little I could do for them, besides teach them the simple basics of improving their Destruction magic on our way to the Bloodlet Throne. I was so focused on teaching that I hardly even noticed the change in elevation, daylight and the snow that fell heavily all around me until I found my body freezing and shaking violently.

“Brrrr…”   
Elior brought me close to him. “Hope ya don’t mind, you just look pretty cold.” I smiled awkwardly, but didn’t move away. Shaya, noticing my awkwardness, pressed into me as well and smirked. “I know she’s young and pretty, Elior, but control yourself.” She looked back at me. “Pay him no mind. He thinks himself charming.” Ryik chuckled and Elior huffed dramatically. I giggled, finding myself actually enjoying their company in spite of their poor choice of career. “Is that so?” I asked. 

We all conversed amongst each other for almost the entire journey.

Unfortunately, as the night drew on and the snowy mountains loomed all around us, our conversations dwindled and I couldn’t help, but ask, “We’re getting nearer aren’t we?” 

Ryik nodded to me and said that my destination was not far away. Elior suggested making camp for the night, but Shaya said that would be foolish considering how close we were and that it would be warmer to camp inside the fort if anything. 

And then we saw it.   
The Bloodlet Throne. A fort made of solid stone bricks. 

“Well… Thank you all for guiding me here. Farewell.” I said, feeling a tiny hint of sadness.True, I had only just met them, but it had been nice. Comfortable even. I hated goodbyes. I shook away any negativity and smiled as they looked at me with worry. Elior was the first to speak. “Be safe, Becyra.” Shaya told me to be careful of the vampires that were rumored to live in the Bloodlet Throne. Ryik said he hoped we’d meet again. I bowed my head to the group and walked up the stairs of the fort. Immediately, I noticed that the entrance in front of the doorway was stained in blood. I breathed in deeply and entered without looking back.

Inside was at least warmer than it was outside in the snowstorm. My body warmed up as I looked around. There was nowhere to camp that was hidden. I was tired, but setting up camp until I’d cleared my way through the fort was going to be impossible. I conjured up Soul and we explored down a staircase. I could see vampires and their thralls rush forward to attack us immediately. Considering it was night, the vampires were exceedingly active. Quickly however, Soul and I used our fire attacks to kill everything in the first part of the cave with ease. A few minor scratches aside, I continued forward. Or downward. Technically, the fort led downward. I explored every nook and cranny in every room and hallway through the mist and the cobwebs for the staff. 

The furthest hallway eventually widened out to a big room with pots filled with fire at the end of it. I walked forward to inspect the area thoroughly, when suddenly a massive crash sounded and next to me, a Gargoyle broke out of its stone casing and attacked!

I was shocked. 

The massive creature leapt and bit at me and I shrieked in terror and sent fire and electricity in all directions! It slashed across my chest and stomach, trying to gut me. I groaned in pain and backed off as Soul rushed forward to face it with roaring balls of fire and slashing attacks itself. I gulped down a couple health potions and raised my hands quickly. I felt the warm glow of healing magic sip from my magicka reserves and restore some of my health. My Restoration training at the College had certainly paid off. 

Finally, I focused on gathering flames in my fists and aimed. Soul cried out and fell before exploding into flames. In vengance, I sent a volley of flames at the stone creature, which cried out and fell soon after my Flame Atronach. Unlike Soul however, it didn’t explode and so I looted its corpse. I spent some time, drinking health potions and waited until my magicka had mostly been replenished.

The area in the room with the two pots of fire contained nothing, but human bones and the door nearest me was barred from the other side. I sighed and walked down a hallway leading further downstairs; my hands flickered with different types of magic and I felt woozy from fatigue. 

A woman stood facing opposite of me in the room below. She didn’t seem fully vampire yet. I noticed her eyes were only rimmed with bright yellow when she turned and noticed me. She was a fledgling. She screamed out at me, but could do nothing to protect herself from my flames. I took what I could from her and looked at the table she’d been facing. Two human hands on plates lined the table and I felt even sicker. 

Inside of the same room, there were potions of health and magicka on a tall wooden shelf that I took along with a Soul Gem. I remembered being lectured on Soul Gems and their unique Enchanting properties. Perhaps I would study Enchanting a bit more. 

The next hallway was filled with snow and lit by torches. At this point, the Bloodlet Throne reminded me more of a cave. When the tunnel-like opening ended, it widened up into a room with a wooden ramp leading upwards. 

“SHRAAAAAA! SHHREEEE!” 

A colony of bats suddenly flew off and away and caused me to gasp and jump in fright. My heart raced and it took several moments to slow to normal. Once it did, I conjured Soul for added protection and continued, still feeling shaken. 

There were several vampires, another gargoyle and even wolves to face in the icy caves ahead. On the bright side, there was also loot to be gained and nothing since the first gargoyle had injured me too heavily.

I walked along a wooden bridge, but stopped and prepared to attack at the sound of footsteps heading my way. Before I attacked however, I recognized the faces of the bandit gang members and I found myself smiling.

“We figured we didn’t want to see you dead.” Elior stated with a grin; Shaya and Ryik nodded in agreement. 

“Thank you…” I bowed my head to them, “I truly appreciate the thought. It’s dangerous in here.”

Shaya laughed, “Well yeah! It’s the Bloodlet Throne! We thought we’d find you dead shortly after we decided to follow you in!”   
Ryik chuckled, “Indeed. We might have been frightened off from this place on our own, but once we saw you go in all brave and stuff, we couldn’t just sit around.”  
Elior nodded, “We’re bandits and we wanted the loot from this place. We decided that we’d go as far as you go. Now, let’s kick some vampire ass.”

I wasn’t sure if it was because they genuinely cared about my safety or simply wanted to loot my corpse, but I still felt grateful to them somehow. 

Inside of the metal gate, we clearly noticed the beginnings of a trap. Wolves were behind gates ready to attack and a vampire watched from up on top of a flight of stairs, sitting on his seat. He looked important.

Elior suggested he and Ryik go inside the metal gate first since they had combat skills and could provide a distraction with Soul and their own Flame Atronachs. He asked Shaya to pull down the gate on the count of three and asked me and Shaya both to attack from afar with our magic. Taking Elior’s words as commands, I nodded obediently.

 

One.   
Two.  
Three. 

Shaya opened the gate.

Soul led the charge with the other Flame Atronachs while Elior and Ryik followed immediately after. Shaya and I prepared to attack with fire and ice. 

The vampire stood up, “You filth never should have come here…”  
I heard another vampire bet on the biggest wolf as though they were merely betting on some sort of game, instead of on someone’s life. The master vampire pulled a lever and the wolves were released…

At once, Elior and Ryik attacked the canines. Shaya rushed forward to further help her companions with bolts of ice and I moved forward to fire off my, well, fire as well. The wolves were no match for us! However, just when we thought we were going to have an easy victory...

everything went wrong.

The vampire shot lightning at Elior, Ryik and Shaya. The lightning caused them to stagger and slowed them a bit. I had been just shy of being noticed by the vampire myself and wasn’t hit. Meanwhile, while the Atronachs were busy killing the wolves, the young vampire who had betted against us, leaped down to the floor and mauled Ryik before I could so much as blink! 

“RYIK!” Shaya cried out and killed the vampire fledgling with ice the very moment that her companion fell. I ran up to Ryik to give him a potion and to possibly heal him with my Restoration magic, but I was too late...he was already dead.

I stared in horror. No. No. No.

And things only got worse.

We’d won against the wolves, but the master vampire...he used conjuration magic on Ryik’s body and used him to kill the heavily conflicted Shaya. Seconds later, Soul and Elior’s Flame Atronach attacked the undead body of Ryik, killing it.

Elior was beyond furious. “YOU BASTARD!” He screamed and raced up the stairs with his blade in hand.

“ELIOR WAIT!” I yelled, but it was all too late. The vampire killed him with a few bolts of electricity… 

I didn’t even have time to cry. 

The vampire noticed me and sent the dead bodies of Shaya and Elior after me. Soul and I were quick to kill the undead with fire and I ran up the stairs towards the vampire, falling several times for lack of control. Soul got there first and together, we used our fire to kill the master vampire.

I was too shocked to feel. Everything happened so fast… I closed the eyes of my friends burnt corpses and laid them as closely together as I could, before walking out of the room. 

I found the chest with what was probably Enthir’s staff in it, grabbed whatever else without a second thought and left after chugging down a Cure Disease potion just in case I had somehow been infected. I wasn’t about to set up camp near the Bloodlet Throne and walked back to Helgen to set up camp, not even feeling the numbing cold and its freezing effects on my heavily fatigued body. 

Once in the ruins of Helgen, I slept for a solid twelve or more hours of daylight in my tent and woke up as the sun set in the sky at dusk. I stayed in my Helgen camp for a few days, contemplating everything that had happened. On the third day, I finally shed tears for the lost lives of the bandits. Never before did I ever believe I would cry for bandits and never before had I felt disdain towards vampires. 

With a heavy heart, I headed back to Winterhold, taking what little solace I could in knowing that overall my mission was a success.

If only it felt that wa


	11. Protect, Serve, Repeat

The caravan I had picked up in Whiterun suddenly jerked and turned away from Winterhold, my destination, which was only a short distance away. 

“Sir, what’s going o-” I stood up and looked in the direction of my home. 

My heart stopped and my mind blanked.  
There in the distance...flying above the town...was a real live dragon.

The driver of the caravan asked if I was crazy when I yelled at him to drop me off, but without waiting until he fully stopped, I leapt off the moment he slowed down and raced towards the dragon-plagued town. 

‘No! I will not let Winterhold become the next Helgen!’ My mind voiced, as I conjured Soul to my side, armored myself with Oakflesh and set my hands a-blaze. 

The town’s guards were attacking the white and blue beast with arrows, doing their best to avoid being destroyed by its icy breath and to defend the town. The woman guard I’d ran into before ordered what I was doing as I joined the fray. “Protecting Winterhold!” I yelled in reply.

I gathered my strength and sent out alternating bolts of fire and lightning towards the sky. I mostly missed the agile creature. Luckily, a guard shot it in the shoulder with an arrow and it landed with the intent to kill. The guard who shot it, was hit by one of its deathly roars. After it attacked the guard, I jumped right in front of it considering my terrible aim and fired non-stop attacks!

Fire. Electricity. Fire. Electricity. Dodge. Fire!

The guards also attacked it from a distance with arrows while I dared to met its fearsome gaze. Its expression was unreadable, but its intent was clear. It sent an icy blizzard at me, which froze me partially to the ground and wounded me greatly. I cried out, winced and gulped down a couple of health potions. I may not have been able to move much, but I took heart in the knowledge that the dragon wasn’t looking too good either. Its blue and white body was now covered in arrows, and its scales were singed with black and smeared with the red of its blood. Regardless of the progress however, I didn’t have much time left before it would likely attack me again.

Within a second, it lunged at me and I sent a volley of fire at its face! My flames caused it to hesitate with its gruesome blood-stained fangs and I used that moment to dodge and fell down instead, ultimately still managing to miss the deadly attack in spite of my conspiring body. I panted heavily and tried to attack it with more fire, when I realized too late that I had drained myself of every last drop of my magicka…

Soul provided cover while I ran behind a burning building. My Flame Atronach lasted a good half a minute of slashing and burning, before it fell and exploded. The dragon, though clearly injured, cleverly moved away from the explosion in time and rushed at me instead.

I was wounded, panting heavily and very low on magicka. Dragons were truly most omnipotent. I gathered what little flames I could in my flickering hands, aimed for its wide open maw and watched as it opened its mouth and lunged at me.

ZZZRT!

RAAAAAAAAAAA!

A great piercing cry resounded against the buildings of the burning town. The blue and white dragon fell to my unintended lightning bolt.

The guards and townsfolk gathered around the mighty dragon’s corpse, while I fell to my knees, bleeding and spent. I panted heavily and sipped a health potion, not looking away from the slayed beast. I heard voices among the crowd, some maybe even calling out to me, but I was too disturbed to listen or respond. 

A light hand touched my shoulder, bringing me somewhat back from out of my shocked state. I blinked and looked up. It was a town guard. He raised me to my feet and thanked me. The other guards, even the woman guard, chimed in their thanks, followed closely by the rest of the town. I was at a loss for words. Birna offered me money for the dragon’s parts and I took the coin she offered me without much consideration. Other townsfolk were clearing away rubble, bodies and trying to patch up any and all damages that they could.

Everything felt like a blur. I healed myself as much as I could after consuming a potion of minor magicka. Before I headed back, I sold a few things more to Birna, ate, drank and personally examined Enthir’s Grand Staff of Charming and then returned to the College of Winterhold at last.

I walked through the College’s gates, feeling exhausted, yet determined. I tracked Enthir down in the Hall of Attainment. I practically threw the staff at him. “Here.” I said flatly.

Enthir looked over the staff in awe and gladly handed me Onmund’s amulet. “Deal’s a deal.” 

Luckily, Onmund wasn’t far and was sleeping in his bed. I nudged him awake. “Excuse me, sir… I am sorry to bother you…” 

The Nord mage looked at me and got up, “No trouble, really. Well, anyways, now that I’m up, what can I do for you? Any luck getting my amulet back from Enthir?”

I nodded and happily handed him his amulet with a grin. “It was a bit of trouble...but I got it.”  
…. 

Onmund, Brelyna and J’Zargo all spoke kindly to me now and referred to me as their friend. For the first time ever, I finally had friends that weren’t my daedric spirits, and there three of them to be exact! 

A few days had passed since I returned to Winterhold. I often had the company of my friends who offered me water and medicine to fully regain my strength whenever they could even when I reassured them that I had already fully healed. I listened to their stories that they shared with me and laughed and ate and drank with them. It was nice. Oh and we also focused on our studies.

Faralda sold me a Fast Healing spell tome and a Fireball spell tome and trained with me to use the later. Apparently, I was a quick study in the art of Destruction magic. On the other hand, Colette found me to be a rather difficult student in the art of Restoration. Not so much due to a lack of ability, as she noted my potential, but more so due to a lack of control. However, I eventually, managed to skillfully wield both of the spells, even Fast Healing.

“You’ve certainly got the hang of it now. Restoration is a perfectly valid school of magic, don’t you agree Becyra?” Colette chirped and I agreed as my hands glowed with warm, golden light. I thanked lady Colette and entered the Arcanaeum, feeling particularly bold with my recent successes. 

“Breton girl.” Urag grunted, looking up from a book he was reading to stare me down when I entered. 

“Ah- Sir Urag...I apologize for my clumsiness from before.” I bowed my head to him and he merely gave a firm huff. “Urm… I am here to ask if you needed any help with anything…”

After a few awkward moments of silence, Urag finally spoke. “Around town, people have been talking. You killed a dragon? It’s hard to believe.” 

“Yes… I killed it. The guards helped a lot though. I couldn’t have done it without their help.” I stated meekly.

“Be that as it may, I suppose you’ll do. I’m looking for writings from the Arch-Mage Shalidor. I am one of very few who can translate them and I am sure it would prove useful to the College. If you can find Shalidor’s Insights, I can pay you and I will allow you to freely roam my library again and not just at night when I’m sleeping and can’t tear you to pieces using Atronachs.”

I happily agreed and was so overjoyed that I got on my knees and lowered my head to the ground. “Thank you! Thank you! I won’t let you down, great sir!” I got up and ran out, only partially witnessing his look of surprised disgust as I disappeared.

\----

It took about a week of traveling when I finally returned to the College with as many of Shalidor’s writings as I could find. I turned them in to Urag, who took them gingerly and began translating them immediately after paying me. He warned me not to disturb him, but mentioned that I could bother him later when he had finished. I left him to his work and took a book on the Divines, dropping a few others in the process and I nervously placed them back in their assigned spots while being given the stern look from the Urag. 

Figuring I had earned myself a day or so off, I took the book to the Frozen Hearth with me and read while munching and sipping. 

“Excuse me.”

I looked up at a big Orsimer stranger and smiled politely, “Greetings sir. May I help you?”

“You killed the ice dragon that attacked this place a little while back. I called out to you that day, but you didn’t respond. I imagine you were shocked. Now that we meet again, I have come to ask you if you would like to join the Dawnguard. We could use your skill.”

“The Dawnguard?” I questioned.

“The Dawnguard is an ancient order of vampire hunters that has been recently reestablished.”

“Oh…” My interest grew, “What made you decide to join? If you don’t mind me asking, anyways.”

“I joined the order to avenge the deaths of my two wives. They were killed by vampires.”

I looked away and sighed, reflecting on my own feelings towards vampires. “I’m sorry for your loss, sir.” He thanked me for my sensitivity and I looked back up at him and gave him a genuine grin, “So...Where do I sign up?”

The orc smiled back, “Follow me”.


End file.
